CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — California was hit by powerful winds Wednesday that fueled a fast-moving wildfire, destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands of residents to flee as forecasters warned of the possibility of “extreme and potentially dangerous” fires. “mortals.” .

Northwest of Los Angeles, the Mountain Fire grew in size and prompted evacuation orders for more than 10,000 people as it threatened 3,500 structures in suburban communities, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo, according to a statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom. The area east of the Pacific Coast city of Ventura will receive federal assistance after a request from Newsom was granted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday.

The fire was burning in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years. A thick column of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the sky Wednesday, covering entire neighborhoods and limiting visibility for firefighters and evacuees. The fire grew from less than half a square mile to 16 square miles (62 square kilometers) in just over five hours.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Trevor Johnson described crews racing their engines toward homes threatened by flames to save lives.

“This is as intense as it gets. “I’m sure the hair on the back of the firefighters’ necks was standing up,” he said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

In one place, flames licked the burning remains of a house. Its roof was reduced to a few charred tiles.

Two people suffered apparent smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals, firefighters said. No firefighters reported any major injuries.

Erratic winds and limited visibility grounded fixed-wing aircraft, and gusts reached 61 mph (98 kph), said weather service meteorologist Bryan Lewis. The water-dropping helicopters were still flying.

First responders pleaded with residents to evacuate. Officers contacted 14,000 people urging them to leave, as embers spread up to 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away and sparked new flames.

“This fire is moving dangerously fast,” said Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner.

Aerial images from local television stations showed dozens of houses on fire in several neighborhoods as embers were whipped from house to house. Other images captured horses trotting alongside evacuation vehicles.

Jade Katz, who said she is disabled and does not drive, waited for a friend to pick her up near her Camarillo Heights home with a suitcase full of medications and Bella, her Great Dane service dog. But the friend couldn’t locate her, so first responders sent a patrol car to escort her Wednesday afternoon as a helicopter dropped water on the house in front of her home.

“As we left the neighborhood, there were five or eight houses that had already burned to the ground,” said Katz, 35, who was sitting in a car with housemate Shannon Kelly, 28. They plan to spend the night with a friend in Los Angeles.

Authorities said they were using all resources, including helicopters dropping water and fixed-wing planes dropping fire retardant, but as of Wednesday afternoon the fire was still burning out of control. Andrew Dowd, a Ventura County fire spokesman, said he had no details on how many structures had been damaged.

Gus Garcia, a ranch owner south of the fire, said he is waiting to see if conditions will change before deciding whether to evacuate his horses and livestock. At around 12:30 pm, his animals were still safe and he was trying to stay out of the way while others removed their livestock.

His ranch is surrounded by others with horses and alpacas, and Garcia said his neighbors in the canyon didn’t seem to panic.

“The horse community is preparing for this because it is always a possibility here,” he said.

Meanwhile, to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews raced to contain a wildfire near Broad Beach in Malibu as authorities briefly closed the Pacific Coast Highway as flames burned near multimillion-dollar properties. . Residents were urged to shelter in place as planes dropped water on the 50-acre (20-hectare) Broad Fire. It was 15% contained around 12:30 pm and progress was stopped. Firefighters said two structures burned.

The National Weather Service office for the Los Angeles area modified its red flag warning for increased fire danger with a rare “particularly dangerous situation” label, and officials in several counties urged residents to be on the lookout for fires that They spread quickly, power outages and power outages. trees amid the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds.

With expected gusts between 50 mph (80 kph) and 100 mph (160 kph) and humidity levels as low as 8%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions ripe for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior up to Thursday, the weather service reported. saying.

Forecasters also issued red flag warnings through Thursday from the central California coast through the San Francisco Bay area and into northern counties, where strong winds were also expected.

Utilities in California began shutting down equipment during high winds and extreme fire danger after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were sparked by power lines and other infrastructure. On Wednesday, more than 65,000 customers in Southern California were preemptively without power, and more than 20,000 in Northern California.

Wednesday’s fires were burning in the same areas as other recent destructive fires, including the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, which destroyed more than a thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Southern California Edison has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle claims after its equipment was blamed for both fires.

By MARCIO J. SANCHEZ, CHRISTOPHER WEBER and STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press___

Dazio and Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, and Olga Rodriguez and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed to this report.